Shoreline woman charged with murder in boyfriend’s stabbing

A Shoreline woman accused of fatally stabbing her longtime boyfriend at their home on May 3, before taking off with their two young daughters and triggering an Amber Alert, was charged this morning with second-degree murder.

Doreen Starrish, 28, had initially been charged with first-degree assault/domestic violence and sought on an arrest warrant. After Aaron C. Smith, 27, died at Harborview Medical Center, Starrish turned herself in to police.

Detectives say Starrish stabbed Smith because he refused to let her take the children out of the house. Witnesses said Smith had refused because she was drunk, according to charging paperwork.

Sheriff’s deputies were called on May 3 to the home Starrish shared with Smith, in the 1500 block of Northeast 190th Street. Friends who were at the home that night told investigators that the couple had been arguing for several hours when Smith was stabbed.

After stabbing Smith, Starrish fled with the couple’s two daughters, who deputies say are 7 and 3, according to charging papers.

An Amber Alert was issued for the children. That night, Seattle police received a phone call from Smith’s brother, saying the children had been dropped off at his grandmother’s house. The grandmother told deputies Starrish had called her to say a woman named “Alice” was responsible for the stabbing. It’s unclear in the charges who “Alice” is.

According to charges, before surrendering to police Starrish posted this explanation on her Facebook page:

“Every one aarons dead I didn’t do it I ran kuz I didn’t want r girls to get taken away…”

At the time he was stabbed, there was a domestic violence order in place barring Smith from contacting Starrish, according to court records. A misdemeanor assault case is pending in Shoreline District Court, listing Smith as the suspect and Starrish as the victim, a detective wrote in her report.

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